Vedas,yoga and meditation

i am pasting one of the most powerful mantras of vedas it is called Gayatri Mantra, The rishi who has seen and heard during meditattion was Maharishi Viswamitra.He was the contemporary of Lord Ram, Rishi Vashista.As per valmiki ramayan, Lord ram has taken birth in dwapar yuga approx 17.7 Million year ago(The bridge he constructed to go to lanka is called adams bridge now).Sage valmiki a contemporary was inspired to write about Lord Ram.Lord Ram was the follower of Vedas, a yogi and highly realised soul.He was the desciple of Rishi Vashistha.He is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.Lord ram was an ideal husband,son,brother and king.In india he is worshipped till date.

Dear friend this mantra the meaning of which i am giving is explained by my guru.Do learn to recite it, yogis say its the most powerful.Recite it as many times you want while meditating.I hope you all may get benefit from this.Finally pray to god to enable us to know the truth :

Everybody wants peace and happiness. Nobody wants a single sorrow. That is why the soul is bound with karma (deeds) theory that whatever the soul wants, it is not necessary that she will get it. It is rightly said that Man proposes, God disposes. However the origin of soul in human body is empowered to burn all the sorrows by virtue of worship, hard and pious deeds to get happy and peaceful life and even to attain salvation. In this pious way Gayatri mantra is very much beneficial for human beings. The Gayatri mantra is given in Yajurveda mantra 22/9, 30/2. 36/3, Saamveda mantra 1462 and Rigveda mantra 3/62/10. So this mantra has been praised in Manusmriti shlok 2/81 to say it the mouth of God.

Om is a saviour of all and immortal. So this name is everlasting and we must remember it repeatedly. Bhuhu----base of breath i.e., creator (God). Bhuvaha----ends sorrows (God). Swaha----omnipresent (God) .Tata ...he, Savitaha--- creator of whole Universe .Varenyam--- Acceptable .Devha---giver of pleasure. Bhagha---unsophisticated/clean/pure or Supreme. Dhimahi---meditate/concentrate i.e., we do meditation of Almighty God who is base of breath of all, ends sorrows, omnipresent, creator, acceptable , giver of pleasure, unsophisticated/Supreme. Now see second part----

Yajur Veda Matra 31/7 says that the Vedas are originated from God. So Gayatri Mantra is a complete prayer preached direct by God to us for our benefit which everyone must adhered to. Question may arise why? We see the sun, moon, earth, our body etc., and can guess that these have not been made by us except God. God has given us every facility like water, food, air, milk and family etc., then if we can not even remember/pray Him (God) in return, then it will be a direct thanklessness towards God, which is the most hatred sin.

Rig Veda Mantra 10/110/8 says that while worshipping we have to keep in mind the three aspects ---1. Stuti (description of true qualities in God) 2.Upasana(to sit nearest to God) God being omnipresent is always within us but being indulged with materialistic world we can not realize Him. For Upasana---Worship the word "Dhimahi " i.e., meditation has been used in Gayatri Mantra. So when we keep aside the materialistic world for sometime both in morning and evening and meditate,worship, do japa or Yajna etc., then it is said that we are sitting nearest to God . 3.Prayer--- by virtue of prayer we are inspired to do auspicious deeds .For prayer the words in Gayatri Mantra are Yha Dhiyha Nha Prachodyat i.e., we pray God to enlighten our mind with wisdom. Due to the lack of this tradition mostly we forget this primary requirement of worship with the result our worship may go in vain. The Gayatri Mantra is thus sound and fulfill the said requirements together as mentioned in above Rig-Veda. In the Vedas there is no other Mantra like this containing three aspects together.

Namaste

Hubert2010-07-04 16:19:22 +0000 #2

What I learnt form Rudolf Steiner:

The Vedas, -written in a time when people had vital bodies excessing their physical bodies, and such, they still had a connection through it to the spiritual world - represent spiritual realities not for just understanding but as they are result of actual experincing, and not revelations to profhets and recorded by other people, as the Bible as example, they are divine also in their form. That does not mean one cannot use reason to study them, but they are more than a text to understood.

I am glad that through your explanations I've become a bit more familiar how the Vedas are, Rashmi.

(Comparison is used as it is, without any judgement of value. Of course both these holy sources have good reasons to be as they are.)

Rashmi2010-07-04 16:43:58 +0000 #3

Dear friends

hello,

by now you must have an little insight into Vedas.The knowledge of Vedas is called aporeshaya means it is not created by any body, nobody has written it. All the seers have clearly written that it is of divine origin.Till treta yuga i.e pre mahabharat war this knowledge and knowledge of Yoga was imparted in gurukuls till the age of 25 to all the disciples.All the students under the seers used to follow vow of brahmacharya.And after that they used to chose the ashrams of there choice.Ladies/girls also used to study vedas do yogas and realise god. In Vedas there are nearly 30 Rishikaswho were mantradrishta.To arrive at any point or to conclude truth there used to be shastrath i.e debate where scohalrs used to put their points.One such famous debate is between Gargi Guru of Sita mata and King janak and rishi Yagavallak.The practise of astanga yoga and preach of vedas never go waste.When you follow both you accumulate good karmas as we all have our duty towards God.In your next birth You will continue from where you have left.Further knowledge of vedas is called Brahama vidya, Brahma means almighty God.This knowledge is never destroyed as said by gyanis.The knowledge of Yoga is self contained in Vedas.In spite of distortions/changes you can always learn it in the purest form by the Knower of Vedas.Further i would like to mention there is one and only one yoga i.e Astanga yoga unlike so many forms available today i.e Power yoga, christian yoga .... We under the three gunas of prakriti commit such mistakes of monopolising yoga which is a divine knowledge for the benefit of human race.The seers till date has not modified it.The preach of vedas purifies your senses and makes you acquainted with true nature of soul , further it gives other worldly knowledge like astrology, mathematics etc.All the upnishads, even the preach of Bhagwad Gita is based on Vedas .Coupled with this the knowledge of Yoga step by step annihilate your Karmas accumulated over no of births.At the satage of nirvikalp samadhi when you realise god you are liberated.

So be sincere in your practice of yoga and if possible gain the true Knowledge of Vedas.However to get the real knowledge of vedas is difficult outside india.I find even difficult in india.The authentic commentries are of Swami Dayanand Saraswati but it is in Hindi, he was a realised yogi and knower of yogas, you can get it in Arya Samaj.However read Gita, the commentry close to the hindi versions are by Swami AC Bhalkivedata Prabhupad.B'cos at times it is difficult to translate everything in english as some words of Sanskrit have deeper meanings.Personally i have a copy of Gita written by Saint Gyaneshwar, he wrote gita some where in 1400 AD when he was 15 years old.He took mahasamadhi at the age of 21.With the hard practice of yoga, its yama, niyam and meditation we can realise God.Further we require devotion(Bhakti),Knowledge(Gyan) and prayer.While meditation repeat gayatri mantra.This will help you a lot.In addition to all this discharge your duties towarde spouse, children and parents dedicatedly.All the seers were married, while discharging all the duties they used to follow brahmacharya, untill you want to be a naishtik brahmachari.

Mirjana2010-07-04 16:40:08 +0000 #4

I would like to add Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. Maybe someone would like to use it. I found it on web site Swamij.com (I found link to this web site in one of the older threads and I really like it)

Rashmi I'm waiting for Bhagavad Gita with the commentary of Gandhi. I ordered it a while ago. Are you familiar with it?

This Mrtityunjay mantra is from yajurveda. When i was not aware of knowledge of vedas a brahmin had given me the same mantra for recitation.However the full mantra with details i am pasting, the meaning is from my pujya guruji, for the benefit of all

We worship the God who is having fame, increases power and who saves us. May I be free from death like ripened musk melon and one should not be away from getting salvation. Here is a word yajamahe, which means to worship daily and to be attached with God. So we must worship daily while doing yajna and jaap of holy name of God. And by practicing ashtang yoga. This is what the mantra is telling. So according to mantra we must worship the God whose qualities have been described in the mantra. And this mantra must be chanted while doing Yajna (Yagya) offering our aahuti of ghee and samagri in havan kund. We have to follow the order of the mantra. Suppose we do not worship to do Yajna or to do jaap of holy name of God, then it is of no use of mere chanting. So one thing is clear that its name is not Mahamritanjay mantra. It is Rigveda and Yajurved's mantra which tells us about God.

Dear Mirjana i will advise you to read commentry of Gita bY some realised soul.However Gandhi Ji was a great soul he was inspired by Gita and vedas.How it has transformed his life the account must be published in a book,but he was not a yogi .The Gita is in sanskrit, and all these ancient compositions have two meanings one is literal or shabdik meaning and other one spiritual meaning .These can be best understood by yogis. You can get it from Ramkrishna mission, Arya samaj etc.Swami Bhaktivedants one is good one, he was a realised soul.Generally best commentries are in hindi.Now everybody writes his own commentries.In this regard you want some help let me know.Why i say to read commentries from realised souls because there five senses are controlled and they do not have I i.e ego, ahankar and there indriyas are in control.So this knowledge which stems from the hard practice of astanga yoga, realisation and preach of vedas purifies there soul and senses is purest and away from all vices and prejudices .

Nichole2010-07-04 17:34:37 +0000 #6

Mirjana,

I have the Bhagavad Gita According to Ghandhi and it is my favorite copy right now.

Here is another translation of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra that also includes a very clear pronunciation of each word.

Dr. Sarasvati Buhrman, the director at my previous school, said that this mantra was both healing and sanctified our classroom, so we would sometimes put the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra on repeat so it played overnight before we met again for class.

It has also part of every homa that I have attended.

Blessings,

Mirjana2010-07-04 17:15:06 +0000 #7

Thank you both for the response! I see that you both have a personal experience with Mahamrityunjaya mantra. I was just passing it to the forum in case someone could benefit from.

I agree that Gandhi was a great soul and I'm sure I can learn a lot from his thoughts and the way he did experience Bhagavad Gita. But I will remember and keep it in mind your advice Rashmi.

Friendly greetings

Rashmi2010-07-04 18:38:10 +0000 #8

Dear friends

Namaste,

Today i would like to share few sacred places of India where i have gone with my family.During late 1800Ad two great souls in india have graced the world , who were living yogis , a siddha.In india people irrespective of cast, creed or religion used to flock to them.These two great souls are Sai Baba of shirdi and Swami Nityananda.Sai baba the illumined master, the great siddha rarely used to impart or teach any thing rarely, but when he used to give discourse on Guru, spirituality people used to listen in rapt attention.This illumined siddha has taken mahasamadhi in 1919 approx at place called shirdi, now this a famous place of pilgrimage.It is near Nashik city of state of Maharashtra.If you are in mumbai you can reach to this plcae via Nashik.Take his blessings whenever you come to this spiritual land.I had gone to shirdi two times.My 2 years son always used to tell me mama i want to goto shirdi, then i took him and after that he has not repeated this desire.All his life is recorded in Sai Charita.My own son is a blessing of Goddess Durga and sai baba of shirdi.Further going to shirdi i have gone via tryambhakeshbar.This place has one of the jyotirlingas of shiva and on top of nearby hill there is udgam (souce) of Godavari , it is called gupta ganga, near that there is place where gautam rishi had done hard tapasya , next to this there is cave where great yogi bhairavnath has done tapsya.In this place also samadhi of Nath yogi Eknath is there.It will be a truly enlighting experience to visit these places.Further in Nasik i have seen a place called panchvati where lord ram and mata sita have stayed.It is a narrow cave now made permanent by concrete.In addition few ancient temples are around this place which should be visited.

Now about Swami Nityananda this siddha purusha has taken mahasamadhi in Place called Ganeshpuri which is of great spiritual importane.If you want to read about his life you can refer this site www.bhagwanNityanand.org.: www.bhagwanNityanand.org. His life is an example, a biography which true followers of yoga and vedas would love to read again and again.He has said that in ganeshpuri, Sage vashistha (Lord Ramas Guru), Sage Sandipani(Lords Krishnas Guru), sage vishvamitra have done severe austereties and tapasya.There is a jivant samadhi of Sage agatsya husband of Sati Anusuya and lord dattatreyas father .Sati anushuya was a great pati vrata(devoted to husband) women and she herself was realised soul.The spiritual vibrations of these Great sages are very strong here which makes this place pious.Please do visit these places and seek there blessings in your spiritual journey.Important Excerpts pertaining to this i am pasting here for your knowledge:

Ganeshpuri is on the bank of the river Teja. There are several hot springs on the banks of this river. The water in these springs is very hot. Some of them have been named after various gods and are considered to have curative powers. On the bank of this river is a small Shiva temple called Sati Anasuya Mandir. This temple is dedicated to Mother Anasuya, the mother of Lord Dattatreya. Under this temple is the tomb of Atreya Rishi, the father of Lord Dattatreya. There is also a hot spring in front of this temple. Two of these springs are called Agni (Fire), Surya (Sun). They are so hot that if you dip a bag of rice in them, it cooks in few minutes.

There was civil engineer named Bhagwan Mistry. He was a devotee of Bhagawan Nityananda. I remember him. He was a short man who wore white pajamas, a white shirt that was long enough to reach his thighs and a black cap. Under the instruction of Bade Baba, he used to do most of the civil work in and around Ganeshpuri. One day the people of village decided to restore the SatiAnasuyaTemple. Bhagwan Mistry was appointed to do make the repairs. While digging around the Shiva Linga a large snake came out of the hole that was being dug. It was very frightening. Suddenly the temple was filled with an aroma that was coming from this hole.

Several people ran to Vaikuntha Ashram and narrated this incident. Bhagawan Nityananda admonished them asking who had told them to disturb the sanctity of the temple. Baba said "Below the Shiva Linga is the Jeevantha Samadhi (live burial) of Atreya Rishi. It is a very powerful place. Do not disturb anything. Just close the hole and cement it."

Near Ganeshpuri is a place called Sand. At one time this place was a jungle. At the foot of a hill there is a small ShivaTemple. At the temple there is flat stone with a foot print which is believed to be that of Sandipani Rishi. Sandipani Rishi was Lord Krishna's Guru and it was here that he performed his tapasya. Hence this place is called Sand which must be short for Sandipani, its original name after this Rishi. Some people visiting this place used to lose their sanity. Therefore nobody ventured to go there. Maybe the spiritual vibrations of Sandipani Rishi were so strong that they left most people's minds in disarray.

Rashmi2010-07-04 17:48:28 +0000 #9

Dear friends,

some mantras of atharva veda on God.Further in the above post i have erroneously mentioned Sage Agatsya as sati anusuyas husband, sage Atrior atreya is Sati anusuyas husband.

ATHARVAVEDA KAND 8, SUKTA 9, MANTRA 2-

"YO AKRANDAYATSALILAM MAHITVA YONIM KRITVA TRIBHUJAM SHYANAHA,

VATSAHO KAAMDUGHO VIRAAJAHA SA GUHA CHAKRE TANVAHA PARAACHAIHI"

Atharvaveda mantra 8/9/2 beautifully describes some of the unlimited qualities of God. Therefore we must worship the God whose glory and greatness has been described by God Himself in Vedas. It will be a self-made worship against Vedas if we worship the God made and assumed by anyone and whose qualities do not tally with Vedas. Mantra states that God is the one who through His great, unparallel, divine power makes the calm/dead/in active prakriti active. The non-alive said prakriti thus seems to roar like a lion, etc.

Then only the prakriti gets ready for the process of creation. Hence, the alive power of God works in the non-alive prakriti to begin the creation of universe. That is why, God is called Nimit-Upadan karann(reason for creation) of the universe.

Further mantra states that the three qualities/gunnas(raj, tam, satva) of prakriti are like its three arms. God as if makes the prakriti, the rest-house and sleeps therein. The underlying meaning of the statement is that once the final destruction of the universe (Mahapralaya) has been brought about then nothing remains except God, prakriti and jeevatmas in unconscious state(except the liberated souls who witness the process of creation). Now therefore the silent period between two creations may be presumed as if God has made prakriti the rest house in which he sleeps.

Mantra also states that God is like the ideal son who fulfills all needs, desires and just demands of His parents. He provides the souls with bodies and entire universe for their utilization. He gives everything to human-beings for survival. Therefore we must worship the God who creates human bodies for souls to live in.

Mantra highlights another greatest quality of God that God only associates and unites human-beings to divine Vedas knowledge to attain salvation.

At last the mantra states that aspirants should strive to know the God harbouring such great qualities through tapasya. As per Vedas tapasya(chastity) means performing yajyen, donating to learned and deserving, controlling five senses, perceptions, observing non-violence, listening Vedas preach from learned and to adopt the teachings of Vedas in conduct.

The Meaning of Gayatri Mantra Encompasses the Teachings of All Religions

1. Hindu: God is the eternal source of life-force; Supreme embodiment of unalloyed bliss and Almighty destroyer of all worries and vices. Meditate upon the preeminent radiance of His pious inspiring power that will enlighten our intellect and motivate it towards the righteous path of elevation. (Rigveda 3.62.10; Yajurveda 36. 3; Samveda 1462)

2. Jew: O Jehova (God) Guide me on the path of religion (righteousness); Show me Thou way which is straight, noble and perfect. (Old Testament-Prayers 5.

3. Shinto: O Lord! Our eyes might see indecent things and vices, but our hearts (inner minds) should be free from all evils and impurities. Our ears might hear what is immoral and profane, but our hearts should not perceive anything unholy or wrong. (Japanese Preaching)

4. Parsi: That Supreme Master (Ahurmazda  God) is the Supreme King because of His pure intelligence and truth. Executing altruist deeds in His name makes us beloved of God. (Avesta 27.13)

5. Dao (Taoism): Dao (the Supreme-Self: God) is beyond all perceptions and thoughts. Righteous conduct as per His disciplines is an ideal religion. (Dao Treatise)

6. Jainism: Revering salutations to all the Arhantas, the Siddhas, the Acharyas, and the Upadhyays (all of whom are enlightened masters). Revering salutations to all the saintly beings. (Invocation Prayer)

8. Confucius: Must I behave not what I like others behave not. (Notable Quotes)

9. Christianity: O Father! Please do not put us under test; Save us from all sins and evils. All the infinite power, noble prosperity and greatness is eternally Thine. (New Testament Matte 6.13)

10. Islam: Ya Allah! We pray to you only and need Thou help alone. Show us the righteous path  the path of those who are blessed with Thou light and grace, and not the (wrong) path of those who are unholy and worthy of Thy punishment. (Quran Sura: Al-Phatiha)

11. Sikh: Omkar (God) is one. Thy name is the ultimate Truth. HE is the creator of Nature, HE is Almighty, absolutely bright and brave. HE could be known only by the blessings of a noble Guru (enlightened divine intellect). (Guru Granth Sahib  Japujee)

12. Bhahai: O Lord! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will not longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou are more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to thee O Lord. (Abdul-Baha in The secret of divine civilization)

Also, the free downloadable version of the book "Super Science of Gayatri" at

by now you must have an little insight into Vedas.The knowledge of Vedas is called aporeshaya means it is not created by any body, nobody has written it. All the seers have clearly written that it is of divine origin.Till treta yuga i.e pre mahabharat war this knowledge and knowledge of Yoga was imparted in gurukuls till the age of 25 to all the disciples.All the students under the seers used to follow vow of brahmacharya.And after that they used to chose the ashrams of there choice.Ladies/girls also used to study vedas do yogas and realise god. In Vedas there are nearly 30 Rishikaswho were mantradrishta.To arrive at any point or to conclude truth there used to be shastrath i.e debate where scohalrs used to put their points.One such famous debate is between Gargi Guru of Sita mata and King janak and rishi Yagavallak.The practise of astanga yoga and preach of vedas never go waste.When you follow both you accumulate good karmas as we all have our duty towards God.In your next birth You will continue from where you have left.Further knowledge of vedas is called Brahama vidya, Brahma means almighty God.This knowledge is never destroyed as said by gyanis.The knowledge of Yoga is self contained in Vedas.In spite of distortions/changes you can always learn it in the purest form by the Knower of Vedas.Further i would like to mention there is one and only one yoga i.e Astanga yoga unlike so many forms available today i.e Power yoga, christian yoga .... We under the three gunas of prakriti commit such mistakes of monopolising yoga which is a divine knowledge for the benefit of human race.The seers till date has not modified it.The preach of vedas purifies your senses and makes you acquainted with true nature of soul , further it gives other worldly knowledge like astrology, mathematics etc.All the upnishads, even the preach of Bhagwad Gita is based on Vedas .Coupled with this the knowledge of Yoga step by step annihilate your Karmas accumulated over no of births.At the satage of nirvikalp samadhi when you realise god you are liberated.

So be sincere in your practice of yoga and if possible gain the true Knowledge of Vedas.However to get the real knowledge of vedas is difficult outside india.I find even difficult in india.The authentic commentries are of Swami Dayanand Saraswati but it is in Hindi, he was a realised yogi and knower of yogas, you can get it in Arya Samaj.However read Gita, the commentry close to the hindi versions are by Swami AC Bhalkivedata Prabhupad.B'cos at times it is difficult to translate everything in english as some words of Sanskrit have deeper meanings.Personally i have a copy of Gita written by Saint Gyaneshwar, he wrote gita some where in 1400 AD when he was 15 years old.He took mahasamadhi at the age of 21.With the hard practice of yoga, its yama, niyam and meditation we can realise God.Further we require devotion(Bhakti),Knowledge(Gyan) and prayer.While meditation repeat gayatri mantra.This will help you a lot.In addition to all this discharge your duties towarde spouse, children and parents dedicatedly.All the seers were married, while discharging all the duties they used to follow brahmacharya, untill you want to be a naishtik brahmachari.

Rashmi2010-07-04 18:32:42 +0000 #11

As per Vedas there are only five alive devas (GOD) Mother, Father, Guru or Acharya, Athithi(Guest) and Almighty God.

Dear friends do yoga, if possible read the Vedas and keep time for sadhna(Yoga) in addition look after your parents in old age and treat them with respect and love. We Hindus in particular says the first God of a child is mother. Even one can realize God by worshipping parents. You gain considerable merit by treating your parents with love respect and looking after them in old age. If we talk of India,since time immemorial there is no concept of Old age home, because we are expected to look after our elders as directed by Vedas and upnishads. However in present day India this tradition seems to be breaking, which is not good for society. Vedas only support the worship one formless God .At present in India Hindus go to various temples of various Devas ie (GOD), however they worship the one and only one Almighty god realized by that great Sage/soul for Example Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Hanuman, Lord Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu all of them were well versed with Vedas and were astanga yogis. All these great souls have realized god in their bodily temple. All these great souls have there own Gurus.

An excerpt from Gurukripa Yoga by Great Yogi Swami Nityananda will be useful for you all in respect of worshipping parents as Gods :

One of the first steps to becoming a Disciple on the spiritual path is to make peace with your own parents. When we say "make peace," we mean to be at piece with yourself first, and then to attempt to make and keep the peace with others. Some of us have parents who have abused us. Others have parents who are wonderful, loving, kind and nurturing. Still others have parents who are a combination of both. Our experience of our parents is due to our own Karma. We choose our parents. We choose the ones we are born through, based on our past Karma, our past way of thinking and behaving.

So, cultivate Love and Compassion for your parents, even if it means that you have to establish certain boundaries for relating with them, so that you can be Compassionate towards yourself also. This is very important to the process of becoming a Student of Yoga. Love those who brought you into this world. If you can't do that, how will you ever be able to follow the instruction of the Master? The first Acharya in life is your mother who bore you for nine months in her womb and brought you into this world. For this reason, She is called the first Guru. Without her grace this life is a waste. Mother gives the soul an opportunity to wash off its Karma and attain Liberation. Our obligation to her can never be repaid and we remain eternally grateful to our mothers, regardless of present interaction or lack thereof. Whenever possible, we should strive to keep our mothers happy and contented. Using the means available to us, we should look after her in her old age just as she has taken care of us when we were small babes. When we are compassionate towards our mothers, we gain spiritual merit. It is this spiritual merit (which is our own virtuous behavior) that makes us eligible for the Grace of the Guru, who leads us to the ultimate goal of all individual souls.

may god bless us all and Give correct wisdom to successfully pass this ocean called sansara (World)

Rashmi2010-07-04 20:12:25 +0000 #12

Dear Friends,

namaste to all,

there is lot of difference between buddhi(intellect), mann (i dont know how to define it in english) and aatma (soul).The soul is the dweller inside the live body , then it is called jeevatma.It is soul through five senses enjoys the pleasures.Mann is called chitt also.Through intellect i.e buddhi we get the power to understand things and differentiate in a live body which is called Jiva-atma.To explain the diffence Rig Ved mandal 10 sukta 129 is essential. But in short one should understand about alive and non-alive matters. There are three matters in the universe. Almighty God and souls are alive. And prakriti is non-alive. It is stated in the said Rig Veda mantra 1 that when the previous universe had been destroyed and new one did not create then there was nothing to see. God, souls and prakriti was there, but in unseen stage. The sun, moon, sky, air, water, life, bodies of human beings, animals or birds, i.e., whole universe, was not there. Because the same had been destroyed which is called pralaya. Destruction means the whole articles of the universe were merged in prakriti. Prakriti has three qualities (gunas), raj, tam and satv guna. When these three qualities does not work then this stage is called prakriti.

So after final destruction (pralaya) God starts creation from prakriti i.e., the power of God works in prakriti and the whole world is created. The first creation comes out in the shape of MEHAT i.e., Buddhi. Then from Buddhi Ahankar(Ego/pride) and from Ahankar mann and chitta. From chitta panch tan matra and then panch mahabhoot i.e., prithvi (earth), Vaayu (air), jal (water), agni (fire), and akash (space) and from these five mahabhoots sun, moon, human bodies and other bodies etc., etc., etc., i.e., whole articles of world. Because prakriti is non-alive so the whole articles of the world is also non-alive. The bodies of man and woman and others were like statue because it is unsexual creation then the alive soul enters the body according to previous karmas (i.e., in the body of man, woman or animal or birds under the unchanged system of God).

We are soul and not body. Souls are immortal whereas all bodies are destroyed. Soul is atma. So this is the difference. But other differences are also there being several qualities of souls. When we sit in car and we drive the car and the car goes to our destination similarly we (soul) reside in the body and do every deed with the help of mann, Buddhi i.e., whole body. If the soul has to see then it will see through eye not himself, similarly to listen, to taste etc. So when soul has to think over any subject then soul takes help of Buddhi and mann.. because alone soul can do nothing. So it is a difference of thought of soul (atma), mann and Buddhi. But this is not an easy task to understand this philosophy due to lack of preach of Vedas/Shastras from a learned spiritual master.

Dear friends this pious knowledge which i am sharing with you all is by the grace of GOD and my revered Guru.We all are joined by one single step yoga.This knowledge will help you in better understanding of yoga.Certainly yoga and knowledge of vedas awaken your mind, soul and body.By steadfast practice of yoga and devotion to god while fulfilling your duties to nation, society,family slowly - slowly your illusion i.e the bond of maya will be broken.People who have been doing yoga for more than 5- six years steadfastly can understand this and co-relate it better.

may god bless us all in making this world a place of peace, love and happiness

Rashmi2010-07-04 20:50:23 +0000 #13

Lord Dattatreya was son of sage atri and sati anusuya.Lord dattreyas life teaches us how nature can be your guru .I am writing this for benefit of all , that we can get spiritual knowledge by observing nature too which is purest and always follows universal laws, sun rises in time, sun sets in time etc.

Once, while he was roaming happily in a forest, he met King Yadu, who, on seeing Dattatreya so happy, asked him the secret of his happiness and the name of his Guru.

Dattatreya said, The Self alone is my Guru. Yet, I have learnt wisdom from twenty-four other individuals and objects. So they, too, are also my Gurus.Dattatreya then mentioned the names of his twenty-four Gurus and spoke of the wisdom that he had learnt from each as follows:

3. I learnt from air to be without attachment though I move with many people in this world.

4. From fire I learnt to glow with the splendour of Self-knowledge and austerity.

5. I learnt from the sky that the Self is all-pervading and yet it has no contact with any object.

6. I learnt from the moon that the Self is always perfect and changeless and it is only the limiting adjuncts that cast shadows over it.

7. Just as a sun reflected in various pots of water appears as so many different reflections, so also Brahman appears different because of the bodies caused by the reflection through the mind. This is the lesson I have learnt from the sun.

8. I once saw a pair of pigeons with their young birds. A fowler spread a net and caught the young birds. The mother pigeon was very much attached to her children. She fell into the net and was caught. From this I have learnt that attachment is the root cause of earthly bondage.

9. The python does not move about for its food. It remains contented with whatever it gets, lying in one place. From this I learnt to be unmindful of food and to be contented with whatever I get to eat.

10. Just as the ocean remains unmoved, even though hundreds of rivers flow into it, so also the wise man should remain unmoved among all the various sorts of temptations, difficulties and troubles.

Rashmi2010-07-04 20:11:18 +0000 #14

Dear friends his rest of teachings which he gained from nature are as follows

11. To control the sense of sight and to fix the mind on the Self, is the lesson I learnt from the moth.

12. I take a little food from one house and a little from another house and thus appease my hunger. I am not a burden on the householder. This I learnt from the black bee which gathers honey from various flowers.

13. Bees collect honey with great trouble, but a hunter comes along and takes the honey away easily. From this I learnt that it is useless to hoard things.

14. The male elephant, blinded by lust, falls into a pit covered with grass, even at the sight of a female elephant. Therefore, one should destroy lust.

15. The deer is enticed and trapped by the hunter through its love of music. Therefore, one should never listen to lewd songs.

16. Just as a fish that is covetous of food falls an easy victim to the bait, so also the man who is greedy for food loses his independence and easily gets ruined.

17. There was a dancing girl named Pingala. Being tired of looking for customers, one night she became hopeless. She had to be contented with what traffic she had that day and retired to a sound sleep. I learnt from this fallen woman the lesson that the abandonment of hope leads to contentment.

18. A raven picked up a piece of flesh. It was pursued and beaten by other birds. It dropped the piece of flesh and attained peace and rest. From this I learnt that a man in the world undergoes all sorts of troubles and miseries when he runs after sensual pleasures and that he becomes as happy as the bird when he abandons them.

19. The child who sucks milk is free from all cares, worries and anxieties, and is always cheerful. I learnt the virtue of cheerfulness from the child.

20. The maiden was husking paddy. Her bangles made much noise and there were visitors from her husbands house. To silence the bangles, she removed them, one by one. Even when there were just two, they produced some noise. When she had only one, it did not make any noise, and she was happy. I learnt from the maiden that living among many would create discord, disturbance, dispute and quarrel. Even among two there might be unnecessary words or strife. The ascetic or the Sannyasin should remain alone in solitude.21. A serpent does not build its own hole. It dwells in the holes dug out by others. Even so, an ascetic should not build a home for himself. He should live in a temple or a cave built by others.

22. I learnt from the arrow-maker the quality of intense concentration of mind.

23. The spider pours out of its mouth long threads and weaves them into cobwebs. Then it gets itself entangled in the net of its own making. Even so, man makes a net of his own ideas and gets entangled in it. The wise man should, therefore, abandon all worldly thoughts and think of Brahman only.

24. The beetle catches hold of a worm, puts it in its nest and gives it a sting. The poor worm, always fearing the return of the beetle and sting, and thinking constantly of the beetle, becomes a beetle itself. I learnt from the beetle and the worm to turn myself into the Self by contemplating constantly on It; thus I gave up all attachment to the body and attained liberation.The king was highly impressed by listening to these enlightening words of Lord Dattatreya. He abandoned the world and practised constant meditation on the Self.

Dattatreya was absolutely free from intolerance or prejudice of any kind. He learnt wisdom from whatever source it came. All seekers after wisdom should follow the example of Dattatreya.

On Dattatreya Jayanthi, get up at Brahmamuhurta and meditate. Fast and pray throughout the day. Do not mix with anybody. Live in total seclusion. Forget the body. Identify yourself with the blissful Self. Study Dattatreyas glorious works, namely, the Avadhuta Gita and the Jivanmukta Gita. Worship Lord Dattatreyas (or, your own Gurus) form. Take wholesome resolves that you will follow the great teachings of Lord Dattatreya. You will realise the Self very soon

may we all learn and realise god

Rashmi2010-07-04 18:31:10 +0000 #15

Dear Friends,

Namaste,

On the above two post i have mentioned about lord dattatreya, he was a great yogi a devapurush.Lord dattatreya signifies as follows "Lord Dattatreya came as the Supreme Philosopher ( Avadhoota: www.dattapeetham.com.../datta/avadhuta.html ) so that the true meaning and purpose of Sacrifice (Tyaaga) may be revealed to mankind. Atri, His father, symbolizes penance (tapas) as described in the scriptures, and Anasooya represents freedom from jealousy. When penance and non-jealous nature unite in a single person, the highest truth emerges as Lord Dattatreya. As ultimate self-sacrifice, the Supreme God gave Himself as Datta to Atri and Anasooya. Hence, "Datta" means not only "that which is given", but also as the ideal of "giving" without desire for reward, i.e. selfless giving. The whole life of Dattatreya shows us that this "giving" selflessly is the true renunciation/sacrifice. The significance of this sacrifice is stated in the Dattatreya Upanishad where the Lord says, "Not by action, not by progeny, nor even by self, but by renunciation (tyaaga) alone is immortality attained. "Real renunciation is the giving up of "I" and mine, not the mere abandoning of duties. Living a selfless life require giving up one's ego. That is what Lord Dattatreya describes as true sacrifice."

Since time memorial there is a tradition of alms giving in india. Ascetics never cook there food they beg it. It signifies that they do not belong to any body, they have no ego, for food and everything they depend on one and only one Provider the Supreme truth GOd.All the saints including Adi shankara, Sai Baba of shirdi, Swami Nityananda, Lord swaminarain have insisted on giving alms to every seeker who comes to your door step.This way you ward of your bad karma and gain spiritual merit.ascetics unlike today never used to accumulate wealth.Further anybody who comes to your house is God i.e athiti (one who comes without telling date) as per Vedas five alive Gods i have earlier told.Great siddha Sai baba of sahirdi everyday used to beg alms from five houses so that people should not forget to give daan (donation, it has a deep spiritual meaning unlike donation).In this regard i will tell you how lord dattateya once again took birth.

A Brahmin couple Appala Raju Sharma and Sumathi, were devotees of Lord Datta.: www.shreeswami.org/a...a-guru-dattavtar.htm They had many children of whom only two survived. One was lame and the other was blind. They worshipped Lord Datta and never failed to offer food to mendicants and monks. They looked uponon all such as they very forms of Lord Datta. One day, they were performing the annual ceremony in their house and many Brahmins were invited as guests for thefeast. Tradition holds that none should eat on that day before these guests partake their food.

At that time Lord Dattatreya: www.shreeswami.org/a...a-guru-dattavtar.htm appeared at their threshold in the form of a renunciate sadhu (saint), bearing the staff and the water-vessel (Kamandalu) and asked for food. The housewife, with immense faith that the visitor was none other than the Lord to whom the whole annual ceremony was being offered, gave Him food even before the Brahmin guests were fed!

Her faith touched the Lord's heart and He at once granted her a vision of this true form. His glorious form had three heads, clad in a tiger's skin and his body besmeared with sacred ash (vibhuti), he looked like a silver mountain in moonlight.

The blessed housewife drank the divine glory of the Lord's from and felt that the highest object of her birth was fulfilled. The Lord said, "Mother, I am pleased with your devotion. Even before you fed the Brahmin guests, you have given me food with the full faith that this is the Lord in the guise of a holy mendicant. Now, ask me for anything you wish and it shall be granted". The sight blessed her eyes and now her ears were sanctified by His sweet words. "Lord", she said, "Lord! You addressed me as mother, please let your word be turned into reality"

Lord replied Tathastu (so be it) and disappeared. Lord Dattatreya: www.shreeswami.org/a...a-guru-dattavtar.htm , in order to bless his devotees and the righteous ones, wanders about in the guise of a random guest at the lunch hour. That's why it is said that a random guest has to be treated as the very embodiment of Lord Dattaterya. Then Sumathi told her husaband of the Divine vision the Lord had bestowed on her and of his granting her wish for a divine son. Not long after, Sumathi conceived and delivered a male child at the proper time. She gave birth to one who is indeed birth-less.

There was no birth in the normal sense, the Lord just manifested Himself as a child in this house. As the child has all the Divine features with celestial radiance, he was fittingly named as Sripaad.This was the first incarnation: www.shreeswami.org/d...a-linage-sadguru.htm of Lord Dattatreya.He was known as sri pad shri vallabh.Again he incarnated in to human form as shri narsimha saraswati an a promise to a lady who was about to commit suicide , as he was teased by villagers as a mother of deaf and dumb son, then he was passing and he told her by commiting suicide you will commit larger sin, rather pray to lord shiva and live with your karmas of this birth.

Dear friends still there are many places in india where these siddhas have promised to partake food to there devotees and they come in any form even animal too to take food.One such place is gangapur where lord dattatreya still comes and has promised to take lunch.If you read life of sai baba of shirdi and Swami nityanand you will understand better.

Along with your sadhana feed a hungry person and help poor make it a practice, place food for birds and animals.The importance of all these traditions now i have under stood and sharing with you.

Om

Rashmi2010-07-04 17:24:03 +0000 #16

Dear friends

namaste,

Modern science has estimated to the age of earth to be 2 billions old.As per vedas the age of present creation i.e earth is is one Arab 96 crore 8 lakhs 53 thousands and 2 years.This is 7th Manvantar and 28 Chaturyugi and the present Kaliyug has passed its time of 5002 years.

Bhagwat Geeta shlok 8/17 also says about this fact. Manu Smriti shloka 1/64 to 1/80 also supports this fact.Till the period of mahabharat the kings , its subjects used to follow sanatan Dharma or vedic dharma.Entire earth was ruled by one chakravarti king.The mahabharat war was a great disaster for humanity.Post this war due to huge bloodshed, lot of human lives was lost all the kings of earth had participated in this great war.After this Lord Krishna too departed and kaliyug started.People immersed in there sorrows forgot to contact seers and rishis for knowledge of vedas and slowly-2 groped in darkness and ignorance. slowly due to wrong interpretation of vedas lot of superstitions seeped in. However as always banaras or Kashi, which is the worlds oldest city continue to be seat of learning for vedas.Only brahmins traditionally had passed this knowledge from generations to generations.If you have to gain knowledge you have to go to your Guru, b'cos you require him he doesnot require.So slowly knowledges of vedas and yogas rested with people or ashrams who were sincere seeker of spirtrual truth and ascetics/monks.In between great yogis took birth to establish dharma and show righteois path to the people like Gautam Buddha, adi shankara, madhvacharay, Ramanuj, Lord Cahitanaya, Lord bhairav, Lord Swaminarayana, Swami ramakrishna, Vivekananda, ramtirth, Rammna Maharishi, Swami Nityanand, Sai baba etc.Then came to india Arabs who destroyed temples, looted valuables, converted peoples and destroyed worlds first universities like Takshila,Nalanda and Vikram shila were destroyed valuable manuscripts with ancient knowledges were burnt along with monks and seers.At that time Indian science , philosophy , astronomy cosmology was quite advanced.The dark age of india started then came french, potrugese and britishers.When britishers had established rule in india great siddhas took rebirth to suffering masses to show them the dharma, many britishers have met with these yogis to understand the highest truth.With the representation of Swami vivekananda in world congress of religion the ancient teachings of yoga, vedas and spiriytual practices came to limelight and further swami ramtirtha, swami paramhansa yogananda and many more yogis with divine will reached west to spread the light of east.Today lot more people are following yoga in search of physical fitness and spiritual truth.

We human beings (souls) suffer plenty of soorrows as per the deeds we commit in our various births.These can be classified as

3.Physical or Bhautik sorrows - Which happens to human beings by other living beings like snake bite, Lion, crocodile etc.

Kapil Rishi in in Sankhaya Shastra , 6th chapter sutra 29 has said all the three sorrows can be killed by Knowledge of vedas, dhyan Dharana (yoga and meditation) and renounciation(vairaygya).Vedas and shastras say that the aim of human being should be to destroy these sorrows by the hard practice of astanga yoga as described in vedas , ramayana,, gita and upnishads along with worldly success.

If you think then you will agree that present day mankind is sufferring from all the three sorrows.Deadly diseases like cancer, aids, hypertension, heart problems etc are troubling us.Either there is excess rain or drought, storms, flood, there deaths due attachk by animals, environmental problems.Dear friends in ancient india till mahabharat period people were happy and free from all these sorrows as they were followers of vedas and yoga in all deeds.Kings used to rule kingdom based on vedic and yogic knowledge.They had Great Mantra drishta rishis to guide them who were appointed as raj Rishis for eg. Lord Ramas Guru was his Raj Rishi Vashishtha who used to advice him in all the matters.Today every nation is suffering if not materially then in some other form , terrorism, Massacre, Genocide, killing of innocent people, poverty, border disputes, war ravages, fight amongst religion etc.Now what is the solution?

Dear friends after reading lives of many yogis and little knowledge of scriptures i have understood that we should do good deeds, curb evil tendencies, read Vedas and do yoga.The yoga which is actually a spiritual practice, sadhna changes person not only physically but mentally.This along with knowledge of vedas is the only proven path to realise the self .It helps you in controlling your indriyas.Further Hom/havan or yajna as described in vedas helps you spiritually further helps in maintaining ecological balance and environment. On yagya or yajna i will try to write some thing for your benefit .Dear friends on the advice of my guru i have started doing havan with ved mantras with my husband and 3 1/2 years old son. earlier i have never understood its importance but now i know which i will share with you all.